Town looks to the law for answers

Published: Sunday, March 10, 2013 at 08:40 PM.

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Hill said there are liability issues with the town’s insurance carrier. But the final answer has come down to the law.

“We don’t want to do anything that’s in opposition of what the state requires of us,” Hill said.

The N.C. General Statutes list the risks as injury from other skaters, spectators and falls, damage to property and death. They place more emphasis on government entities than on private skateparks.

They go on to specifically require unsupervised government-owned parks to adopt an ordinance requiring skateboarders to “wear a helmet, elbow pads and kneepads.” In addition, the parks must have a sign posted stating that requirement, as well as “any person failing to do so will be subject to citation.”

“I read it to pretty clearly speak to the liability issue,” Town Attorney Brian Pridgen said. “If it’s a facility that’s not supervised on a regular basis, then the government’s liability is OK if they put a sign up.”

SNOW HILL — The clash between young people desiring certain freedoms and adults’ concerns over their safety has been ongoing for ages.

That clash was apparent when a 21-year-old made a request to the Snow Hill Board of Commissioners concerning the town’s skatepark policy on protective gear.

“I don’t know if anybody has paid enough attention,” Dillon Lee of Bullhead told the board recently, “but the park has seen little use since this has been enforced, and it’s only been enforced a few months now.”

Lee proposed the town change their policy and institute a waiver that would allow adults to have a choice in whether they or their children should wear elbow and knee pads and helmets. The waiver and a “Skate at your own risk” sign, he suggested, would release the town of any liability if someone should get injured.

Lee cited the city of Wilson’s skatepark sign as an example.

The signs at Snow Hill’s skatepark currently list the rules, including wearing protective elbow, knee and head gear.

Commissioner Becky Scarborough, a mother of two young children, asked Lee if he was proposing skateboarders not wear any protective equipment.

Lee said he just wants people to have a choice and suggested the town give a card or sticker to users of the park who have signed — or their parents have signed — a waiver.

“I know a lot of the kids and people that use the park,” he said, “and I know most of them don’t have any pads, even the helmet. A lot of them don’t have the ability to get it themselves. … It’s just kind of a bummer.”

Lee said he and his friends now skate in Greenville, but at the parks with higher ramps, most skateboarders at least wear helmets.

“Really, I just think most people really, really don’t like wearing pads,” he said, “and I think people should have a choice.”

Scarborough said adults have “an ethical and moral responsibility to protect” young people, and she expressed concerns about head trauma.

“I think we would be very foolish to not require children to wear helmets,” she said.

Lee said it should be the parents’ choice, not the government.

Sergi Scroggins, 15, of Snow Hill, said in an interview if one of his friends was not wearing protective equipment at the park, a police officer would tell that friend not to skate. If one person wasn’t able to skate, they all would leave the park, he said.

Gavin Williams, 16, of Kinston, said most of his friends can’t afford the equipment.

He quit going to Snow Hill after a few times and now goes to private parks in Greenville where participants are charged a fee to skate.

Town Administrator Dana Hill said the town had several sets of pads and helmets in a box at the park when it was built.

“Yet, within a week,” he said, “they were either torn up and scattered around the park or gone altogether.”

Hill told the board he believed there may have been liability issues requiring the wording on the park’s sign.

The board members assured Lee they would look into any possibilities for changing the policy.

The parents’ view

Sergi’s mother, Tyra Scroggins, said the kids were told to leave the park, even if they had a helmet on, but no pads. A group of youth now skates at parks in Greenville and Goldsboro or they find places around Kinston to skateboard.

“Banning them isn’t the answer,” she said. “If one is told to leave, then they’re all going to leave.”

The activity at the Snow Hill park has just about died out, Scroggins said.

One reason for that, she said, is the lack of parental involvement, including buying safety wear and giving authorization to the town for their children to skate.

She considered buying equipment for her son’s friends, but increased hours at her job has prevented her from taking the kids to the park lately.

Scroggins said the Snow Hill ramps are smaller than some of the other area parks.

“People are always complaining that kids stay in their houses and play video games,” she said, “… These kids are outside being active and they’re getting kicked out.”

Some of them, she said, want to skate professionally and are getting or have gotten sponsored. Part of that learning experience is skating at a variety of parks, Scroggins said.

“This is a group of kids that are taking their skating very seriously,” she said.

Williams said he could see skating at your own risk, as far as the pads, but not the helmet.

A search on the Internet of videos and photos taken at area skate parks show numerous skaters on medium to high ramps without any protective gear on at all, or wearing a helmet, but no pads.

What the law says

Hill said there are liability issues with the town’s insurance carrier. But the final answer has come down to the law.

“We don’t want to do anything that’s in opposition of what the state requires of us,” Hill said.

The N.C. General Statutes list the risks as injury from other skaters, spectators and falls, damage to property and death. They place more emphasis on government entities than on private skateparks.

They go on to specifically require unsupervised government-owned parks to adopt an ordinance requiring skateboarders to “wear a helmet, elbow pads and kneepads.” In addition, the parks must have a sign posted stating that requirement, as well as “any person failing to do so will be subject to citation.”

“I read it to pretty clearly speak to the liability issue,” Town Attorney Brian Pridgen said. “If it’s a facility that’s not supervised on a regular basis, then the government’s liability is OK if they put a sign up.”

At one time, the city of Wilson had a supervised facility. Snow Hill used Wilson as a model, but never had regular supervision. Wilson’s current sign simply reads, “Skate at your own risk.”

Adam Rech, Wilson’s safety technician, said the park’s policy is based on the recommendation of the city’s insurance — the city is self-insured — and legal team. Pridgen said self-insured governments need to make sure they are fully insured.

“We haven’t had any issues with it,” Rech said. “We haven’t had any claims filed. So it appears to be working OK.”

The statutes continue on by stating that government entities that comply with the statutes will not be liable for damages and injuries by a voluntary participant, with certain exceptions such as gross negligence.

With that in mind, Hill said the town would not be able to relax its stand on protective gear.

Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.